Cooley Family Farm

I have posted a few of our favorite asparagus recipes in our blog over the last couple of years. I don’t currently have an index of those recipes so I thought I would post the links to them now. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have!!

Tracy

Pan Fried Asparagus and Asparagus Pizza
Vanilla Balsamic Asparagus
Asparagus Soup
Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus

Kevin the kids and I had such a great time at our Harvest Basket Open House. We are so thankful that so many of you were able to join us!! We truly have the best customers!

A huge thanks to our good friend Tim for bringing his own tractor and driving everyone around the farm so Kevin could show off his vegetables. Tim also spent a great deal of time helping us get ready for this special day. Thanks Tim!!!

We are so grateful to everyone who volunteered precious time to make the day special. Thanks to Joe (harvest basket customer) for helping us beautify the farm ahead of time. Thanks to Jerri (friend) for doing the face painting. Thanks to Robin and Suzy (friends) for everything from setting up to serving to tearing down. And thanks to Dave (friend) for taking pictures for us.

This year we decided to make soup the theme! And what perfect weather we had for soup. Our simple menu for the open house was Vegetable Soup, Roasted Butternut Squash soup, homemade bread, and carrot cake for dessert.

My personal favorite is the vegetable soup. I always feel so good (and guilt free!!) when I eat a big bowl of soup that is nothing more than vegetables, salt, pepper, and some smoked paprika powder. I don’t really have an official recipe for this but I will include all of the ingredients I used below. I’m getting hungry as I type this!!!

Vegetable Soup

Ingredients:
Lots of tomatoes!!
onions
garlic
green beans
yellow wax beans
carrots
potatoes
sweet corn
cabbage
zucchini
yellow squash
salt
pepper
smoked paprika powder

First I cooked down a lot of tomatoes and then the onions.

While things were cooking down I chopped up some of the other vegetables.

Note: The onions and green beans were cooked ahead. Add water or more tomato juice if needed.

Here is a picture of my secret ingredient. One of our harvest basket customers gave it to me
a while ago and per her instructions I keep it in the freezer. She said it can be ordered on
the internet. I am almost out so I will be looking soon!

I just combine everything and cook until it is ready. Probably 40 minutes to an hour?

Other seasonings that can be added:
basil
thyme
oregano
bay leaf
dash red pepper flakes

Butternut Squash Soup

Prepare the butternut squash for roasting by peeling and chopping into
large chunks. Place in a baking dish and lightly coat with olive oil.
Bake at 400 for about an hour or until tender.

Ingredients

6 tablespoons chopped onion
4 tablespoons margarine
6 cups roasted butternut squash
milk or cream
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

Other seasonings that can be added:
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, saute onions in margarine until tender. Add squash, milk, and marjoram. Bring almost to a boil.
2. Add the cooked soup along with cream cheese in a blender or food processor in batches until smooth. Return to saucepan, and heat through. Do not allow to boil.

French Bread

This is a picture of bread being served at the open house… yum!!

5 tsp. active dry yeast
2 cups warm water
1 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1 egg white
1 tablespoon water

Directions:

1. Combine yeast, water, sugar, salt, and flours into kitchen aid bowl and use the dough hook. Mix at low to medium speed until dough is well formed.
2. Form the dough into a ball and lightly coat with olive oil. Loosely cover the bowl with plastic wrap.
3. Place the dough in a warm draft free area to rise for an hour. (The oven with just the oven light on works well)
4. When dough has finished rising, punch it down. Divide into 4 sections. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Cover, and let rest for 10 minutes. Roll each half into large rectangle. Roll up, starting from a long side. Moisten edge with water and seal. Taper ends.
5. Put parchment paper on an air baking cooking sheet. Sprinkle with cornmeal. Place loaves, seam side down, on the prepared baking sheet. With a very sharp knife, make 3 or 4 diagonal cuts about 1/4 inch deep across top of each loaf. Lightly beat the egg white with 1 tablespoon of water, and brush on. Cover with a damp cloth. Let rise until nearly doubled, 35 to 40 minutes. Brush again with egg white mixture.
6. Bake in a preheated 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) oven for 20 minutes until bread tests done. If necessary, cover loosely with foil to prevent over browning. Remove from baking sheet, and cool on a wire rack.

This bread freezes very well. I often freeze loaves of this bread. When I need to use it I will take it out of the freezer and thaw. Put it in a 400 degree oven for about 3 or 4 minutes and it will be nice and crusty.

Carrot Cake

Cake Ingredients
4 eggs
1 cup applesauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 cups white sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. cinnamon
dash ground cloves
3 cups grated carrots

Icing Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, softened
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, beat together eggs, applesauce, oil, white sugar and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots. Pour into prepared pan.
3. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
4. To Make Frosting: In a medium bowl, combine butter, cream cheese, confectioners’ sugar and 1 teaspoon vanilla. Beat until the mixture is smooth and creamy. Stir in chopped pecans. Frost the cooled cake.

On August 1st we had a “Save The Berries” party. We invited willing helpers to join us on the farm for 1 1/2 hours of weeding in our berry patches and then some fun music, social time and dessert in our backyard. We had a wonderful time and since everyone said they would be happy to come back for another event like this we believe everyone who helped us out had fun too!

Everyone was so fast at weeding we did all of our work in 1 hour!

Relaxing after a job well done!!

Our next event will be this fall when we take down all of the tomato cages and carry them to next years tomato location. If you are interested in joining us be sure to let us know.

Our dessert that day was a Zucchini Cake and strawberries from the patch we weeded.

Dark Chocolate Zucchini Cake

2 1/4 c. unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
1 t salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
2 c. lightly packed brown sugar
1/2 c. butter, at room temperature
2 large eggs
3 ounces baking chocolate, melted and cooled
1 t. pure vanilla extract
1/2 c. coffee
3 c. grated zucchini or summer squash
confectionsers’ sugar, for dusting

I shred my zucchini with the fine grater in my food processor.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 10 in. fluted tube pan with butter.

Sift the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into a medium bowl.

Beat together the brown sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in the melted chocolate and vanilla. Add the flour mixture, alternating with the coffee, and beat until smooth. Fold in the zucchini. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan.

Bake for 50 min., until a skewer inserted in the cake comes out smooth

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack for 10 min. Invert onto the wire rack, remove the pan, and leave on the rack to cool completely. Dust with confectioners’ sugar right before serving.

I hope you enjoy it!
Tracy

This was bit of an experiment based on other quick recipes that I like. I was in a hurry to get dinner for the kids so I didn’t want to spend a lot of time. Kevin had recently brought in some of the thin spears of broccoli that he had picked, not the full heads. This worked out great! And everyone love it.

Step 1
Wash and rinse the broccoli (no need to remove the small leaves). If you can, use the small spears.

Step 2
Add some coconut oil to a skillet on medium heat. Once the oil has melted add the broccoli and put a lid on the skillet.

Step 3
After about 5 minutes or so open the pan and stir the broccoli so it doesn’t get burned on one side.

Step 4
Continue to cook and stir as needed until the broccoli is tender. Add some course salt, fresh ground pepper and serve.

We found this to be very addicting. For the small batch that I made here it took about 15 minutes or so from start to finish. You can use this as a stand alone side dish or add it to pasta or fettuccine.

Enjoy!
Tracy

This is super fast and easy. Start a pot of water boiling. While you are waiting for the water to boil just wash your peas and pull the strands off. When the water comes to a full boil put the peas in. This only takes about 1 or 2 minutes. You will see the peas turn a very pretty bright green. Put the peas in a strainer and rinse with COLD water. This stops them from further cooking and preserves the pretty color. The picture below is a batch of sugar snap peas right after they have been rinsed and before I put any dressing on them.

I like them best just like this. And if you are in a hurry you can stop here and serve them. The dressing is pretty quick to make as well, so if you want to add some extra flavors you can drizzle the dressing on.

Ginger Dressing

1 T. olive oil
1 1/2 t. rice vinegar
1/2 t. ginger
1/4 t. pepper

Blend the ingredients well and drizzle over the peas. It doesn’t take much, just a little bit to add some extra flavor to the peas.

Enjoy!
Tracy

I posted this recipe last year, but wanted to post it again so it’s at the top of the list while green garlic is in season!

The green garlic is milder than dried garlic. If you love garlic you will love this recipe. We made some whole wheat pasta and tossed it with a little butter and added the pesto. It was great. The pesto also tasted wonderful on the veggies. I was out of french bread but I have a feeling it would make fantastic garlic bread as well.

I made a full batch of the pesto which yielded about 1 1/2 cups. A little can go a long way so next time I plan to cut the recipe in half. What I’m posting below is the full recipe, so be sure you want a lot of pesto if you make it as is.

5-6 shoots of green garlic, trimmed of tough dark green parts and cut into 2 inch pieces
2 oz. Parmesan Cheese, cut into small cubes
3/4 t. coarse salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/2 C. extra-virgin olive oil

Put everything except olive oil into a food processor or blender. Process until it is fairly smooth. You may need to stop and scrape the sides a couple of times.

Next pour in the olive oil until you get everything is pretty smooth. If needed scrape sides again during this process.

You can be flexible with the ingredients too. I used about 1/2 Grana Padano and 1/2 Parmesan for the cheese. I also was about out of olive oil so I ended up using 1/4 cup olive oil and 1/4 cup plain sesame oil (not toasted). It was still great and no one knew I altered it. Also… it is very common to use pine nuts when making pesto. I prefer mine without but you could put some pine nuts in as well.

Best of all this is simple to make and you can be creative when spicing up a meal.

Tracy

I am, by the way, addicted to reading food blogs. I read a food blog about a spinach and apple pizza and decided that for this meal I would use pears instead of apples.

The original recipe I found called for fresh spinach, however, I prefer to saute’ my spinach in a skillet with a little water until it’s soft. You can also thaw out some frozen spinach, chop it up and use it. So if you have extra spinach this time of year, just blanch it and freeze it so you can make this pizza in the winter, you will love it!!

Pizza Crust (adapted from allrecipes.com)

2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

I toss everything in the bread machine and put it on the dough cycle which in my bread machine takes 1 1/2 hours.

When I take it out of the bread machine I roll the dough out into 2 pizzas. Don’t make them perfect. They look so much prettier and authentic if they are odd shaped. I poke holes in the rolled out dough with a fork.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

I bake mine on parchment paper on a baking stone or air bake sheet for about 10 minutes without toppings. After I have added all of my toppings I bake pizza until the cheese and crust are golden brown, about 15 to 20 minutes.

The Sauce (adapted from Foy Update)
1 pint frozen tomato sauce (about 2 cups)
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon pepper

The frozen tomato sauce is how I preserved our summer bounty. The sauce can also be made from whole frozen tomatoes. I just toss everything in a sauce pan and simmer it down until the desired consistency.

Pizza
1 cup Spinach fresh (or saute’d or frozen spinach that has been thawed and all excess moisture squeezed out)
1 pear (peeled and sliced thin)
mozarella
goat cheese
provolone
parmesan
ramano

After the pizza dough has been pre-cooked for about 10 minutes (this is optional depending your your preference for how the crust is cooked) I put the sauce on. Don’t put it on too thick. Then I added just a thin sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. Next I spread the spinach (remember to make sure you have squeezed out as much moisture as you can and chop it up) out on the pizza. Added little globs of goat cheese and thin layers of the other cheeses.

Bake the pizza for about 15 – 20 more minutes.

Yummy!!

Hope you enjoy it!
-Tracy

Tonight Kevin said that as he distributed rapini today he either saw looks of excitement or of fear. So for those who may be unsure what to do with rapini I wanted to share this fabulous way to cook it that we enjoyed this evening.

Pasta with Rapini

Ingredients:

1 bunch rapini, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 (8 ounce) box uncooked pasta
1/2 cup walnuts
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large cloves garlic, sliced
salt and black pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

When chopping the rapini you can use the entire plant other than the tougher portions of the stems. The stems may be used, but it is very important to only use the most tender parts of the stems. Coarsely chop the leaves and flowers. Cut the tender part of the stems into 1 inch pieces.

Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil over high heat. Once the water is boiling, stir in the rapini, and cook until just tender, about 5 minutes.

Remove with a slotted spoon, and set aside.

Return the water to a boil, and stir in the pasta. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the pasta has cooked through, but is still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Drain well in a colander set in the sink.

While the pasta is cooking, cook and stir the walnut halves in a skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 5 minutes. Set the walnuts aside, add the olive oil, and reduce heat to low.

Stir in the garlic, and cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the broccoli rabe, and cook 3 minutes to reheat. Season to taste with salt and black pepper, then stir in the drained pasta and walnuts. Toss with Parmesan cheese before serving.

Yum! I hope you enjoy it.

Tracy

I know I say this a lot, but yum, yum, yum! This really is one of my favorite ways to cook asparagus. Last season for asparagus I posted Asparagus with Vanilla Balsamic, Asparagus Soup, Pan Fried Asparagus, and Asparagus Pizza. (If you haven’t seen them, be sure to check them out in this blog in the older posts). I ran out of time to get this one posted last season, so I knew this would be THE asparagus recipe to share this season. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!!

Phyllo Wrapped Asparagus

Ingredients:
Asparagus spears
Frozen phyllo dough sheets, thawed
Melted Butter
Garlic Pepper
Parmesan Cheese (Or your choice… blends are great)

Preheat Oven to 375

After thawing the phyllo dough, cut it in half like this…

Lay one of the half sheets of phyllo out so you can lightly butter it. Cover the remaining phyllo with a damp towel to keep it from drying out (which I did not do in this picture… ooops).

Next sprinkle with garlic pepper and cheese. Parmesan cheese alone works well, but I really enjoy combining other cheeses like ramano, provolone, asiago, etc. It all works just choose whatever combinations you like. It doesn’t take a lot of cheese so just sprinkle lightly down the center of the dough.

Select 3 or 4 asparagus spears. I usually choose spears that are close to the same diameter and length, but that is mostly so it looks pretty.

Roll the asparagus up and place them on a baking sheet.

Next, brush the top of the phyllo dough with a little more butter or spray lightly with a cooking spray. Put in the oven and bake for about 15 – 18 minutes.

Easy!! Yummy!! Even kind of fancy!!!

Enjoy…
Tracy

Yes… that’s right…. brownies with spinach and butternut squash. Quite a while ago I saw some recipes for spinach brownies. The recipes I saw called for spinach and carrots. My supply of carrots is pretty low this time of year, but Kevin still has a lot of butternut squash in storage from last fall and he is picking some beautiful new spinach now. I think butternut squash is my favorite sqaush… it seems there is nothing it can’t do! Well… my experiment worked out because the brownies turned out great!!!

I sprinkled a little powdered sugar on top to make them look “fancy”. But they really didn’t need it.

Here is my version of the Spinach Brownie recipe:

Brownies (with Spinach and Butternut Squash!)

Nonstick cooking spray
3 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butternut squash puree (instructions below)
1/2 cup spinach puree (instructions below)
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 Tbsp. trans-fat-free soft tub margarine spread
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
3/4 cup Self Raising flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat the oven to 350°. Coat an 8″ x 8″ baking pan with cooking spray. Melt the chocolate in in microwave starting with about 30 seconds… stir, then 15 seconds… until the chocolate is melted.

In a large bowl, combine the melted chocolate, spinach, butternut squash, sugar, cocoa powder, margarine and vanilla and whisk until smooth and creamy, 1 to 2 minutes.

Whisk in eggs. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Pour the batter into the pan and bake 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in the pan before cutting into 12 bars.

If you eat them warm you taste more of the vegetables. If you let them cool or refrigerate them they just taste like chocolate brownies.

Butternut Squash Puree
I cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place the squash halves skin side up in a baking dish. Bake at 400 for about an hour or until very tender. Scoop the squash out of the skins and it is ready to use.

Spinach Puree
Thoroughly wash the spinach. I snap off the larger stems. I put a small amount of water in a skillet on the stove over medium heat. In small batches I add spinach to the skillet and cook them for about a minute and a half. Place the wilted spinach in a blender or food processor and puree.

Enjoy!!
Tracy